1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to a powder container including a rotatable powder chamber for containing powder, and further to a powder replenishing device and an image forming apparatus incorporating the powder container.
2. Description of the Background Art
There are powder replenishing devices, such as toner replenishing devices for supplying toner to an image forming apparatus, that use a powder container including a bottle body, serving as a powder chamber, for containing toner, and a front end cover, serving as a holding portion, for rotatably holding a front end portion of the bottle body.
In such configurations, typically a container gear is formed on a circumference of the front end portion of the bottle body to mesh with a driving gear provided in a body of an image forming apparatus (i.e., an apparatus body). As the bottle body rotates with the container gear meshing with the driving gear, toner contained inside the bottle body moves from a rear side to a front side of the bottle body along a spiral protrusion formed on an inner circumferential surface of the bottle body. In the front end portion, toner enters a hopper formed in a front end portion of the front end cover covering the bottle body. A nozzle inserted into the hopper from outside the front end cover, sucks in toner and transports the toner to a developing device incorporated in the image forming apparatus.
In such a configuration, it is possible that toner coagulate inside the bottle body if the apparatus is not used for a long time. Various approaches have been tried to loosen coagulated toner in the bottle body. For example, JP-H11-327275-A proposes a toner replenishing device that includes a cylindrical bottle holder having a diameter greater than that of the bottle body, and a rear end portion of the bottle body is inserted into the cylindrical bottle holder.
At a predetermined circumferential position of the bottle holder, an internal projection projects from an inner circumferential surface of the bottle holder, and a protrusion is formed in the rear end portion of the bottle body, at a predetermined circumferential position. When the protrusion of the rear end portion of the bottle body moves in a predetermined rotational range as the bottle body rotates, the protrusion overstrides the internal projection of the bottle holder. An impact at that time can vibrate the bottle body to loosen the toner therein.